James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

: 浙江大學沃森基因組科學研究院,

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: 浙江大学沃森基因组科学研究院; abbr. WIGS), is a research institute of genomic science. It is located in

Hangzhou City Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

, Zhejiang Province, and affiliated to

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the n ...

in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Introduction

The institute was named after the DNA structure co-discoverer Dr.

James D. Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...

. The institute was founded on October 6, 2003, when Watson visited China, and was also the year of the fiftieth anniversary of Watson's discovery. Watson also wrote the title for the institute. The institute was consulted from the American

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, and quantitative biology. It is one of 68 institutions supported by the Cancer Centers ...

, where Dr. Watson was the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. It is located in the

Zhijiang Campus, Zhejiang University Zhijiang Campus is an urban campus of Zhejiang University located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang, China. Located on riverside of the Qiantang River and close to the Liuhe Pagoda, it was the oldest university campus in Hangzhou. Built as ...

, close to the Qiantang River and has a very beautiful landscape. The institute mainly offers

postgraduate study Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

. Currently there are about 80

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and PhD candidates. At present,

Yang Huangming Yang Huanming (; born 6 October 1952), also known as Henry Yang, is a Chinese biologist, businessman and one of China's leading genetics researchers. He is Chairman and co-founder of the Beijing Genomics Institute, formerly of the Chinese Acade ...

, academician of the CAS, is the acting director of the institute. The institute collaborates with academic bodies from around the globe including the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

References

{{Zhejiang University Research Center of Zhejiang University James Watson